DataGPT today debuted what it says is the industry’s first artificial intelligence-powered conversational data analyst.

The startup says its technology unites the creativity and comprehension of generative AI with the logic and reasoning of advanced analytics techniques to make sophisticated analysis more accessible to smaller businesses.

According to DataGPT, incorporated at Comparative Inc., many businesses are struggling to analyze their business data effectively. It says existing business intelligence tools often fall short because of the lack of iterative querying that’s required to dig really deep into data and surface the most useful insights.

There is evidence of this in studies that show more than 85% of business users simply forgo using BI tools. At the same time, consumer-focused generative AI tools such as ChatGPT cannot integrate with large databases, so they’re not able to assist with data analysis.

By uniting conversational AI with a proprietary database and the most advanced data analytics techniques, DataGPT says, its platform can proactively uncover insights for any user in any company. Nontechnical users can type natural language questions in a familiar chat window interface, in the same way as they might question a human colleague. Questions such as “Why is our revenue down this week?” will be answered in seconds, and users can then dig deeper through additional prompts, such as “Tell me more about the drop from influencer partnerships” to understand the real reasons why it’s happening.

DataGPT said its proprietary database, which will be made open-source in the near future, is 90 times faster than traditional databases, enabling analysis that’s 15 times cheaper and queries that are 60 times faster than with traditional tools. Whenever users ask it a question, it will use generative AI to execute millions of queries instantly to surface the most relevant insights and answers.

The startup said the DataGPT AI Analyst is trained on a self-hosted large language model that’s smart enough to handle the ambiguities of human speech and accurately interpret which data elements are most likely to be of interest to users. It can generate both text-based responses and visualizations to help users better understand the insights it discovers.

DataGPT co-founder and Chief Executive Arina Curtis said the startup is empowering any company employee to talk directly with the data they work with. “Our DataGPT software, rooted in conversational AI data analysis, not only delivers instant, analyst-grade results, but provides a seamless, user-friendly experience that bridges the gap between rigid reports and informed decision making,” he said.

In this way, DataGPT said, it’s putting skilled analysis into the hands of everyday business users for the first time. It will help customers to establish a more advanced data culture, and promises to free up nearly 500 hours each quarter for the average data team, allowing them to focus on higher-yield projects.

Doug Henschen of Constellation Research Inc. said DataGPT’s platform looks to be a compelling and useful tool for many company employees, but questioned the veracity of the startup’s claim to be debuting an industry first. “Most of the leading BI and analytics vendors have announced generative AI capabilities themselves, with ThoughtSpot and MicroStrategy two major examples,” Henschen said. “We can’t discount OpenAI either, which introduced the OpenAI Advanced Data Analysis feature for ChatGPT Plus a few months ago.”

DataGPT might not be entirely original, but early adopters of its platform say they are impressed by its capabilities. Michelle Bellettiere, head of data analytics at the video streaming provider Plex GmbH, said DataGPT makes insights available to every team and user in seconds. “Instead of relying on our data analysts’ time, I can get an instant read on our daily performance, allowing me to understand in minutes information that could take hours to track down in other tools,” he said.

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